Sunday, January 16, 2011

Accessibilities information is really important to me as a disabled person. It gives me the opportunity to decide for myself the degree of involvement i can or would like to have with an event, organization, whatever. It puts the power in my hands to make informed choices about what i do with my body, and that shit is priceless.

Having accessibilities information on your events is key, and not just when you know your event is super accessible. It's critical, for example, that you not indicate your shindig is accessible when it is actually not. Seems simple, but it happens all the time. It makes a difference to me whether there are 2 or 20 steps, whether the bathroom is big enough for me to move around in, whether it will be a scent reduced or scent free event. It matters to my friends and i if your event has childcare, is on a bus route (and whether or not there will be bus tokens available), whether its trans friendly and elder friendly. It matters to me that if there are couches provided in addition to folding chairs, that people know those couches are for fat accessibility and others who require that kind of seating. Its important to indicate whether there will be sign language interpretation. It's important to know that folks who do not have legal documentation will be safe in the space. And so on. So many things are important.

It's important that the information you provide is accurate and up to date. There's not much that pisses me off more than arriving at a space billed as accessible only to discover it's not. And no you wont give me my money back. And no you cant carry me up the stairs. And, well, no, i will not be returning. If you think its a pain to gather all this info, try to imagine what its like when time and again, you have to face a wall of stairs when youve been promised none, or been promised you can comfortably take a piss when in fact you couldnt even fit in the stalls provided. Its all about perspective, folks.

So when you know the information, SHARE IT. If you dont yet know the info, FIND OUT. If you dont know how to go about it, ASK THOSE WHO DO. If someone comes to you and requests a change because of accessibility, WORK IT OUT.

Thats what makes communities stronger, more resilient and able to face the barrage of bullshit that the state visits on us at every turn.

<3

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